Nicholas Ordenes- Community Gardens Around the World
Preface: My name is Nicholas Ordenes and my project is on community gardens around the world and how they bring life and ethnicity into a community. The licenses I will be using is Attribution CC BY. [CC BY 4.0]
Introduction: In this project I intend to explain the three different community gardens above which are the Alice Street Community Garden, Beresford Community Garden, and Marchmont Community Garden and how that are works of art in a middle of a community. I was intend to show how community gardens give a sense of belong to a community because it is a group effort that makes a community garden a work of art.
Theme: One of the two themes for this project is that community gardens produce is cultural belonging. I say this because it allows for the people in that area to grow and produce food that is specific to their nationality and culture which gives them a sense of belonging and tight knit community. The second theme for this project is improved food security because the people in the community that grow the fruits and vegetables know exactly where it came from which leaves no question to whether the fruits and vegetables were grown with harmful chemicals.
Analysis: I choose the three images above of community gardens that are found around the world to the gardens are art. The first image is the Marchmont Community Garden that’s in London and is managed by local voluntary organizations. In the early 2000s those in the Marchmont Association realized that a couple spots in the Marchmont Community needed improvements that were eye catching so they deiced to set up community gardens to fill in the spots which were once not easy on the eyes. The second image is of Beresford Community Garden which is in San Mateo, California. In San Mateo there are actually two community gardens, the other one being Los Prados Community Garden, but this image here only shows the Beresford Community Garden. In both gardens residents of San Mateo are able to rent out a plot of land at 28 cents per square foot to cover the garden expenses. With different people being able to plot there own fruits and vegetables it gives them a sense of belonging to the community and it also give them a sense of cultural belonging as well because they are able to grow fruits and vegetables that are native to their own cultures. Finally, the third image is of the Alice Street Community Gardens in San Francisco, California. Alice Street Community Garden is by 164 seniors and younger disabled people from the neighborhood. Each person gets a 6×4 foot plot to grow their own fruits and vegetables. This allows for food security because you are the one planting your own fruits and vegetables and creativity because the residence free range in what they want to plant.
Application: Seeing community gardens as an art form is very important to not only the community in which it is in but the the society. Many cities want to but up works of art such s sculptures or murals in public places so that it can be eye catching, but if more people see gardens as a form of art not only is it eye catching but it is also good for the environment. Not only is it good for the environment but it is also good for the people because now they have food security if they were to plant fruits and vegetables. All in all seeing community gardens as art is very important.
